Sex sting snares 12 men seeking to rape children, officials say

They came from as far away as Lake City and New Smyrna Beach, thinking the Internet chats they had conducted with young boys and girls were the ones they would meet in Jacksonville.

Instead, 12 men ranging in age from 19 to 52 were arrested on charges of using the Internet to solicit or lure a child after a multi-agency Internet sting labeled Operation Guardian attracted them, then captured them, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Flanked by officers from some of the eight Florida law enforcement agencies that helped in an investigation that began in January, Rutherford said all 12 suspects were arrested after meeting someone they thought was the under-14 boy or girl they had been chatting with on the Internet.

Meeting locations and times for sex were arranged by the suspects, Rutherford said. When they arrived, they were taken into custody.

The investigation was started by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and helped with the agencies in North Florida Regional Internet Crimes Against Children, including Jacksonville Beach Police and Gainesville police and Clay and St. Johns County sheriff's offices.

Rutherford said Operation Guardian is continuing and wouldn't offer any more details since more investigations are scheduled.

But he said the objective was to identify suspects who use electronic devices to solicit sexual activity with children via a dozen officers acting as a teenage boy or girl handling 150 to 200 talks in a computer-filled chat room.